CHART OF THE DAY: Amazon's Growth Is Waning

Aug 28, 2023

Amazon reported earnings for its fiscal third quarter of 2014 on Thursday. Revenue hit $20.58 billion, which is a 20% increase year-over-year, but it fell short of analysts' expectations at $20.84 billion. Earnings per share also missed: Amazon reported -$0.95, while analysts were only expecting a loss of $0.74. The company's stock took a hit as a result: Investors know Amazon's revenue is still on the rise, but its growth is slowing down.

Based on company data charted for us by BI Intelligence, the company's growth peaked in the second quarter of 2011, when its year-over-year revenue saw a massive jump of 50%. But the company has made numerous investments, particularly in the last quarter: It's been trying to push its AT&T-exclusive Fire Phone to customers, it spent almost $1 billion to buy the streaming service Twitch, it expanded its Prime Fresh delivery service to New York City, it's spent almost $100 million on original video content (including the critically acclaimed show "Transparent"), and it's also trying to get into mobile payments with its mobile card reader called Local Register. So most of Amazon's profits are going back into the company, hence the not-so-explosive growth.